Nadine Gordimer, who used her literary talents to expose the world to the harsh realities of South Africa’s apartheid system, has died. The Nobel Prize winner was 90 years old.

Her family confirmed that she died Sunday in Johannesburg following a battle with a short illness, reports SABC News.

According to the New York Times, Gordimer didn’t initially plan on taking on the system when she started writing, but it soon became her topic of choice. She found that the repressive system could not be ignored, even in fiction. Critics found her entire body of work to be one long history of characters living through South African history.

Gordimer wrote over two dozen pieces of fiction, going back to 1949’s Face to Face. Her first novel, The Lying Days, appeared in 1953. After her second novel was published, her work began being banned in her native country. However, in 1979, her famous Burger’s Daughter was banned for only months because by then, she had gained international fame.

Gordimer won the 1991 Nobel Prize for literature. She was also awarded the French Legion of Honor. She is survived by her son and daughter.